Spilt Milk

“Don't let one cloud obliterate the whole sky.”—Anais Nin

Do you remember, as a child, lying in the grass on a warm summer day, looking up at the sky, watching the clouds change formation as the wind tossed them across the blue landscape? This is the magic that's captured in the charming little picture book, It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw, published in 1947.

The graphics in the book are simple white shapes against a blue background. The back cover entices you with the verbiage, “Sometimes it looked like Spilt Milk. But it wasn't Spilt Milk, Sometimes it looked like a Bird or an Ice Cream Cone or a Birthday Cake or an Angel. But it wasn't a Bird or an Ice Cream Cone or a Birthday Cake or an Angel. What was it?” The answer to the mystery, of course, is that “it” is a cloud. The suggested age level for this book is from 4 -7, but I have used this book in my toddler classes with children as young as 2 ½ as an inspirational tool for some very simple art projects in which a child can create his or her own cloud scene.

Collage - Paint with glue onto blue construction paper or cardstock, then attach stretched out pieces of cotton balls to the sticky places. (Keep some inexpensive brushes with your art supplies that you use only for glue applications, because after using them for glue, they will no longer be useful for paint.) Shiny star stickers can be applied to transform the picture into a night scene.

Paint 1 – On blue construction paper, drop white acrylic painted that's been watered down a bit, onto the center of the page. (The water addition will make the paint look more like milk.) Blow the paint around on the paper with a straw or fold the paper in half and then reopen it.

Paint 2 - Do a reverse technique. Dab or drip heavily watered down blue watercolor paint onto white construction paper or watercolor paper. Blow the paint around with a straw.

Felt Board – Glue a sheet of blue felt onto a piece of cardboard. Cut out random shapes of white felt. The white felt will stick to the blue felt without any further adhesives.

Encourage your child to tell you what his or her “cloud” shapes look like. You could even staple the pages together to make a cloud book. It Looked Like Spilt Milk is such a great book to add to your library of picture books. And there are actually used copies of the book for sale at Amazon.com starting at one cent!

National Picture Book Week

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to inspire and nurture creativity in children is through the reading of picture books. Today, May 1, 2011, marks the first day of the First Annual National Picture Book Week.
To find out more about what inspired this idea and how you can be a part of the event, go to NationalPictureBookWeek.com. Also, check out the Facebook page for NPBW and have your child contribute to the discussion and post a drawing of his or her favorite picture book.

First Annual National Picture Book Week Set for First Week in May-Press Release

Hollywood, FL – December 10, 2010- A recent article in the New York Times, Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children, prompted author Linda Eve Diamond to initiate a nationwide awareness of the importance of picture books in creating a love of reading and in developing critical reading and thinking skills.

According to the New York Times article, many parents are pushing young children away from picture books exclusively into chapter books out of a concern for education and achievement test scores.
Diamond states that on the contrary, “Picture books are not the cause of the country's literacy problems, and they can even be part of the solution. Picture books inspire a love of books from an early age. The linking together of words and pictures sparks imaginations and may even help to develop critical thinking skills. Picture books often use words and concepts that are beyond a child's reading level because the pictures help the child grasp the overall story and learn new words without even realizing it. Language play and poetry are common in picture books, and rhythm, rhyme and word patterns also help early language development.”

National Picture Book Week (NPBW) is scheduled to occur on May 1-7, 2011. Educators, librarians,museum directors, bookstores and parents are being encouraged to schedule events during that week to showcase the beauty of picture books as learning tools and works of art. NPBW events may be large or small, ranging from readings in libraries, schools and community centers to larger, sponsored events.

A web site, NationalPictureBookWeek.com, has been created as a resource for interested participants to receive information and share ideas for the week long celebration.

Open House for Butterflies

While sorting through a box of old books I purchased at an estate sale years ago, I came across a tiny yellow picture book written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, published in 1960, titled Open House for Butterflies. Not having a storyline, as usually expected in this type of work, I found it to contain random, mostly silly thoughts that could be likened to a child's thought process. Whimsical illustrations are accented by statements such as, “Open house for butterflies is a good thing to have.” “ Look, I'm running away with my imagination.” “ Nojuice is a good word to know in case you have a glass of no juice.” and “A good thing not to be is a little tree because you might grow up to be a telephone pole.”

I was not familiar with this little classic, but was immediately struck with the thought that it would be a perfect inspirational tool to use with young children when encouraging them to write their own picture book. I was particularly taken with the author's statement that, “If I had a tail I'd pull my wagon with it while I was picking flowers.” I was fortunate enough to be able to test out my theory during a visit with my 6 and 7 year old nieces, Annie and Molly. Both being true creative spirits in their own right, the sisters asked me if I would write a book with them. (They had remembered the books I had written and read to them when I last saw them a year earlier.) I suggested the title, If I Had a Tail. They loved the idea and began shouting out all the things they would do if they possessed that appendage. We jotted them all down, then listed all the rhyming words we could think of that worked with their ideas. Then all three of us put paper cupcake liners on top of our heads, upside down, calling them our "thinking caps" while we strained our brains linking the thoughts together and editing them down into a little poem.

When we were happy with the end product of our writing, the girls moved onto the illustration process. Molly worked diligently at designing the cover, placing the title in the center and over 40 different tails around the edges of the page. Annie contributed the artwork for the first page. I then showed the girls how to search on Google Images for pictures they could “borrow” for their personal book. Although this picture book will never be in line for a Caldecott or a Newbery award, the girls had the opportunity to stretch their imaginations, learn some new skills and deem their old, great aunt officially cool.

If I Had a Tail
by Molly & Annie Mullahy

If I had a tail I could sail like a whale
with a white sheet tied to its tip and my feet.

I could swat a lot or hit a bit, at bugs and baseballs
or punch a bully in the nose with it.

Swing on a tree or bounce up high like tigger.........wheeeee!

But now I'm so hot, I need to cool down.
I'll use my tail like a fan while strolling into town.

In a quiet time, it could be a quill pen
to write a rhyme or paint a picture of a fat hen

To celebrate all my fun, I'll frost a cake.
Then I'll eat it all up and get a tummyache.

Make a Picture Book

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.”
- Melody Beattie

There's a very sad trend going on now among parents of young children. In the desire of wanting the best for their child, parents are pushing their children away from picture books into the reading of text only chapter books, exclusively.

As a former English teacher, I would never discourage the reading of chapter books, if the child
is ready for them. But there is absolutely no reason to take away the joy of picture books by telling the child that “picture books are for babies”. On the contrary, picture books inspire children to learn and to enjoy reading. (For articles on this topic visit http://NationalPictureBookWeek.com.)

I have written numerous picture books for my arts enrichment classes to use as an inspirational jumping off point for the students. I would like to share the text from one of these books with you that you can use with your child to create his or her own picture book. The book title is I Say Thank You and the text is as follows:

I say thank you
for my favorite food.
I say thank you
because it makes me feel so good.

I say thank you
for my favorite toy.
I say thank you
because it fills me with joy.

I say thank you
for my beautiful family.
I say thank you, thank you, thank you -
thank you happily.

It's such a good thing
to say thank you,
that we have a special day
when that's what we do.

We eat turkey, potatoes and pumpkin pie
and say thank you for everything good
above and under the sky.

I say thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you for everything.
I say thank you because
it makes my happy heart sing.

You can use a notebook or scrapbook as the base for your picture book, but I think the most fun base to use is an actual blank board book. That way the finished product has the look and feel of a “real” book.
These blank board books can be found at www.orientaltrading.com. (The product code number currently is IN-65/55184 and is listed as “3 Scrap your own! Board books”)

Now for the images. Images of food can be found in newspaper circulars, magazines and on food coupons. For the toys, check out the gift catalogs that are prolific at this time of the year. (Finding the images from the sources can be a fun “scavenger” hunt your child can do.) Make color copies of family photos. The Oriental Trading site is also a good place to find Thanksgiving stickers. And don't forget to check out Google Images for useful pictures.

All of these images can be attached to the board book with your favorite adhesive. And of course, offer your child the opportunity to draw their own pictures for the book. One big tip, have them draw on a separate piece of paper which can then be glued into the book. That way you save the frustration of the child drawing onto the book and then not liking the drawing. Trust me. That happens.

Type out the book text, print it out and glue the appropriate pictures next to the words in the board book. I created my book on one of the previously mentioned board books from Oriental Trading. Space the text out so that you see one paragraph on each two page spread.

Have your child read his or her own picture book at your Thanksgiving dinner. If you are a family that says grace before dinner and/or bedtime prayers, offer your child the opportunity to share the book at that time also. (Don't reserve Thanksgiving Day as the only time you teach your child the importance of being grateful.)